New Technology: BRINGS BLACK HISTORY TO LIFE

New Technology: BRINGS BLACK HISTORY TO LIFE

By John T. Toler

Staff involved with building and sharing the AAHA ‘s growing body of information include (from left) Aysha Davis, who handles Digital Programs and Audience Development; Director and President Karen Hughes White, Grants Administrator Angela Davidson and Community Outreach Coordinator Christine Lewis.

Photo by Hugh Kenny, PEC.

The Afro-American Historical Association

of Fauquier County, headquartered in The Plains, is a notable example of how an organization focused on discovering and preserving the past has been able to grow and advance its mission with the latest technology.

The AAHA traces its beginnings to the efforts of Karen Hughes White and Karen King Lavore. In the late 1980s, they began researching information about their own families, using the resources available at the time in order to find “…anything to shed light on the lives of those who came before us.”

These sources included official county records found in heavy volumes in the county record room, microfilm, microfiche and floppy discs, and census data found on CDs. Pertinent information was also accessed at the Library of Virginia and other museums.

These efforts created an extensive body of knowledge focused on the African American experience in Fauquier County, and the founding of the AAHA in 1992. By June, 1997, the AAHA had a small office in the American Bird building in The Plains that was open to the public on a limited basis.

Donations from community sources – as important now as they were in the early days – provide a unique part of AAHA’s wealth of information. These include a large collection of funeral programs, reference books donated by retired librarians, church records, school board minutes, school censuses, and family bibles containing notations of births, marriages and deaths.

AAHA also purchased material the staff found in other places, as well as donation of certain objects from people who have visited Africa, or were from there.“When you have people from Fauquier who are collectors of certain items they want to donate, the shelves start to quickly fill up,” said White.

In 2001, the AAHA moved into a larger office in a building on Loudoun Avenue in The Plains, and over the years has expanded into most of the available space. Under White’s leadership as president, the staff has grown as well, including Collections Manager Norma Logan, Grants Administrator Angela Davidson, Marketing Coordinator Robert Doane and Community Outreach Coordinator Christine Taylor Lewis.

And these days, modern computer technology has been a huge help.

Fauquier native Jerry Williams IV provides IT support. His work includes the Virtual Museum project, which was launched in December 2021.

Through a grant from the Virginia Association of Museums, in 2000 the AAHA purchased Past Perfect museum software, which included the modules for basic archives, objects, library, photographs and museum membership.

“We used the ‘scatter-gather’ feature, where we could ‘scatter’ new information on a CD or floppy disc, take it home, update the computer there, and bring it back,” recalled White, who lives in southern Fauquier. “We got to the point where we could work remotely and send the information in, but I never could, because my internet is much slower and didn’t meet on the same wave. It still can’t… not to the fullest.” The Worldwide Web was a major resource. “As Ancestry.com and other search engines became available, we started subscribing,” said White. “We started with straight Family Tree Maker, and later upgraded to Family Tree Maker.3. Now I think we’re on Family Tree.2020.”

Starting in 2000, creation of the AAHA website has been a collaborative effort. The first version was an online virtual exhibit created by volunteer Laurae Lyster-Mench using Past Perfect software. Updates have been made regularly, managed by local tech companies and White’s daughter, Ebonee Davis Sanders, who has a degree from Strayer University in Computer Networking.

To call the AAHA website a “work in progress” is an understatement. Easily searchable databases include 1867 Voters, African American Marriages, Born Free and Emancipated, Bible Records, the AAHA Archives – and more are coming.

The Know Their Names database is currently being developed and is in its first phase for testing, which includes an interactive, searchable experience on the website. It will allow visitors to access to AAHA research and data in real time as it is entered. The goal is to have a completed platform for research and data entry in late 2022 or early 2023.

The AAHA’s new Interactive Story Map offers a wide range of information in a well-organized and easy-to-use format. It’s a collaborative project of the AAHA and the Piedmont Environmental Council, which also provided photographic support. The Fauquier County GIS Department assisted with mapping, and funding was provided by the PATH Foundation.

Clicking on “View Our Interactive Story Map” on the AAHA homepage takes you to an overview explaining the project, then to the three primary categories: Fauquier County’s African American Communities, Churches, and Schools.

This is followed by Explore the Map, which provided specific details about those categories in an interactive format. Each subject is indicated on a map by a number; placing your cursor over the number calls up the identity of the subject, and clicking on it leads you to a detailed narrative and vintage photographs of the subject.

The final link, Learn and Share, gives instruction on how to use other information available on the AAHA website, as well as how to submit additional information, stories or photos for inclusion. Visitors are encouraged to contact elected officials and ask them to support “…greater recognition of these important, but often overlooked, communities and historic resources.”

It’s remarkable what the AAHA has been able to accomplish with just a small part-time staff, its board of directors, and dedicated volunteers. The importance of what they do was recently recognized by the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors, which named the AAHA Scott District’s 2021 Citizen of the Year.

“This recognition acknowledges our mission of documenting and preserving the history of the African American presence in Fauquier County, not limiting them to one community, district or one period of time,” said White. “It also speaks to Supervisor Holder Trumbo’s understanding of the richness of Fauquier’s history, and our mission to network and make this information available to all.”